He nqhhis petess co



N0. 753,342. PATENTED MAR. 1,1904; W. WILSON 6: T. W. BAKER.

PACKING CASE OR CRATE.

. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20 1902.

no MODEL.

m: sum-us PETERS 120.. PHOTD-LITHQ. WASHINETQN, D. c,

UNITED STATES Patented March 1, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM WILSON, OF LONDON TOWNSHIP, AND THOMAS W.- BAKER, OF

LONDON, CANADA.

PACKING CASE OR CRATE- SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 753,342, dated March 1, 1904.

Application filed June 20, 1902.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WILLIAM WILSON, a resident of London township, and THOMAS W. BAKER, aresident of the city of London, in the county of Middlesex, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Packing Cases or Crates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements on stout boxes, cases, or crates in which merchandise is kept and handled during transportation or storage, the object being to provide a simple, strong, and durable case for this purpose and one which will be very economical to manufacture; and it consists of the improved construction and novel combination of parts, as will be hereinafter first fully set forth and described and then pointed out in the claims; reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein' Figure 1 is a perspective view of a box or case embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is another perspective view of same. In this view the removable front is removed and the batten which holds the locking-link in place is partly cut away. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the removable front. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the frames, showing a sheet of strawboard or other resilient material placed over the recess therein. In this view said sheet is partly cut away. Fig. 5 is another perspective view of same, showing the case in knockdownform for shipment.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral 1 designates two opposite spaced apart frames composed of the two opposite side rails 60 and the two opposite end rails 5, and a designates slats with which said frames are covered on one side.

d designates exit-openings, one or more of which are formed in the rails b to permit the escape or exit of any moisture or liquid falling on the case and collecting in the recess formed by the side and end rails a b and the slats c. A

2 designatesa sheet of strawboard or other Serial No. 112,455. (No model.)

per ends of said slats e, and the lower ends of the slats a project a short distance below the lower batten f for the purpose which will. be hereinafter set forth, and g designates a socket or recess formed in the upper batten f.

5 designates a yielding locking-strip, of metal or other suitable material, which is secured to the upper end of said removable front 4 and extends across the upper portion of the socket or recess 9, as shown in Fig. 3.

Gdesignates a batten secured to the lower frame 1, the upper portion of which batten 6 projects a short distance above said lower frame 1.

7 designates a locking link or bar which is vertically adjustable in the vertical grooves 8, formed in the outer face of the upper front end rail 5 of the frame 1, and said lockinglink is formed with the inturned laterallyprojecting ends 7, which project laterally to one side beyond one of the side faces of said locking-link, or said locking-link may be in- I 9 designates a horizontal recess formed in the upper edge of the rail I) to receive the saddle or upper end of the locking link or bar 7 when the latter is lowered to hold the front 4 in place on the box or case, and 10 designates a horizontal recess formed in the lower front edge of the upper front rail 6 to permit the inturned end or ends of said locking link or bar 7 to be raised clear of the removable front 4 when wishing to remove the latter;

11 designates a batten secured to the front face of the upper end rail?) to prevent the locking link or bar from falling out of the vertical grooves 8 and to guide said locking link1 or bar 7 vertically as it is raised or lowere 12 designates a clasp or staple which is driven into the adjacent portions k of the frames 1 when in knockdown form (shown in Fig. 5) for shipment.

The frames 1 are first formed by securing the opposite sides a and the 'opposite ends I) together and securing to one side of said frames the slats 0, and two of said frames are connected together and held spaced apart by the slats 3. The locking link or bar 7 is then placed in the grooves 8 of the upper front endrail b and the batten 11 secured to said frontend rail to prevent said locking-link from falling out of said grooves and to guide said link as it is adjusted vertically in said grooves. After the goods are placed in the receptacle formed by the frames 1 and the slats 3, as just described, the ends of the slats e of the frontL which project below'the batten f' are placed inside of the batten 6 until the batten f rests on the batten 6. The lockinglink 7 is then adjusted to the position shown by dotted line 7' in Fig. 1 and the front 4 adjusted against the case, as shown in Fig. 1. When in this position, by adjusting the locking-link 7 to the position shown by solid lines in Figs. 1 and 2 the front 4 is firmly and securely held in place. When lowering said locking-link 7 to the position shown by solid lines in Figs. 1 and 2, the inturned laterallyprojecting ends 7 of said link compress the metallic locking-strip 5, so that when said inturned laterally-projecting ends 7 pass below said strip 5 the compression is removed from the latter, which springs back to its normal position above said inturned laterally-projecting ends 7 and thus completely prevents the accidental disengagement of said lockinglink 7 from said locking-strip 5 to securely and firmly hold the front 4 in place. The

battens f and f of said front engaging with the battens 6 and 11 prevent any vertical movement of said front, and the slats e of 1. The combination with two oppositelydisposed hollow frames, the side and one end wall of the crate, a batten secured to the lower frame and to the adjacent slats of the side wall, a removable front, said front being composed of vertical and horizontal slats, the lower horizontal slat or bottom being arranged above the ends of the vertical slats whereby the same will engage the first named batten and frames the lower ends of the vertical slats of the said fronts to engage in the firstnamed batten on its inner face, and means for securing the upper end of the said front for preventing outward movement thereof.

2. In combination with the top frame and front wall of the crate, said frame being formed with a pair of vertical grooves, a link arranged in said grooves, a batten extending over said grooves for holding said link in position, a yielding locking-strip secured to said WILLIAM WILSON. 1 THOMAS W. BAKER.

Witnesses:

P. J. EDMUNDs, A. BYRIOK. 

